Business Highlights: Biden touts efforts to lower medical costs; US consumer confidence wanes

___ 10 drugs targeted for Medicare price negotiations as Biden pitches cost reductions

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is touting his administration’s efforts to lower medical costs. Officials on Tuesday announced the first 10 drugs that would be targeted for Medicare price negotiations. The popular diabetes treatment Jardiance and the blood thinner Eliquis are on the list. Biden says “we’re going to keep standing up to Big Pharma and we’re not going to back down.” The Democratic president’s move faces litigation from drugmakers and criticism from Republican lawmakers. A pharmaceutical lobbying group says the list stems from “a rushed process focused on short-term political gain rather than what is best for patients.”

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US commerce secretary rejects Chinese appeal to ease export controls

BEIJING — U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says she rebuffed an appeal by Chinese leaders to reduce U.S. export controls on technology with possible military uses. But Raimondo says the two governments agreed to have experts meet to discuss disputes over protecting trade secrets. During a visit to revive frosty relations, Raimondo said she conveyed complaints to officials including China’s No. 2 leader, Premier Li Qiang, about Chinese restrictions on U.S. technology companies. Raimondo joined a series of American officials including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen who have visited Beijing in the past three months. They are trying to restore relations that are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes over technology, security, Taiwan and other issues.

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US consumer confidence wanes with prices still high and signs of a cooling job market

NEW YORK — American consumers are feeling less confident as summer comes to a close as high prices and interest rates weigh on their willingness to spend. The Conference Board, a business research group, said its consumer confidence index tumbled to 106.1 in August from a revised 114 in July. The index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months. Both measures saw significant declines in August. Consumers’ view of current conditions fell to 144.8 from 153, and the index for future expectations slid to 80.2 from 88 in July. A reading below 80 historically signals a recession within a year.

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Job vacancies, quits plunge in July in stark sign of cooling trend in the US labor market

WASHINGTON — Businesses posted far fewer open jobs in July and the number of Americans quitting their jobs fell sharply for the second straight month, clear signs that the labor market is cooling in a way that could reduce inflation. The number of job vacancies dropped to 8.8 million last month, the Labor Department said Tuesday, the fewest since February 2021 and down from 9.2 million in June. Yet the drop appeared to be even steeper because June’s figure was initially reported as 9.6 million. That figure was revised lower Tuesday.

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Stock market today: Wall Street rises following updates on consumer confidence, job openings

NEW YORK — Stocks closed higher on Wall Street as two economic reports suggested the economy is cooling enough for the Federal Reserve to pause hiking interest rates. The S&P 500 rose 1.5% Tuesday, its biggest gain since early June. The Dow rose 292 points and the Nasdaq rose 1.7%. The Conference Board, a business research group, reported that consumer confidence tumbled in August, surprising economists that were expecting levels to hold steady around the strong July reading. Job openings in July fell more than economists expected. Best Buy rose after the consumer electronics retailer beat Wall Street forecasts. Treasury yields fell.

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When it comes to the Hollywood strikes, it’s not just the entertainment industry that’s being hurt

LOS ANGELES — It’s been more than 100 days since members of the Writers Guild of America stopped working and more than a month since the actors union joined them. The financial ripples that the strikes have caused are wide-reaching. It’s affected the obvious industries like studio rentals, set construction, props and makeup to things like coffee shops near studios and dry cleaning for costumes. All across Los Angeles, companies large and small are feeling the effects. The last writers strike took three months to resolve and is conservatively estimated to have cost $2.1 billion. This time around, the number will be harder to measure.

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FBI and European partners seize major malware network in blow to global cybercrime

LOS ANGELES — U.S. officials say the FBI and its partners in Europe infiltrated and seized control of a major malware network that was used for more than 15 years to commit a gamut of online crimes including crippling ransomware attacks. They then remotely removed its malicious software agent — known as Qakbot — from thousands of infected computers. The operation was announced Tuesday in Los Angeles, where U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said the criminal network had facilitated about 40 ransomware attacks alone over 18 months that officials said Qakbot administrators about $58 million. “Nearly ever sector of the economy has been victimized by Qakbot,” he said. ___

Best Buy and the reluctant shopper. Sales fall as Americans pull back on spending

NEW YORK — Best Buy sales and profits slid in the second quarter as the nation’s largest consumer electronics chain continues to wrestle with a pullback in spending on gadgets after Americans splurged during the pandemic. The decline in sales was smaller than what Wall Street had anticipated, however, and profits were better than expected. The U.S. job market has remained resilient, but Americans are facing higher prices and more expensive credit. It’s more expensive to take out loans for appliances, cars and houses, or to use a credit card. Consumers have become reluctant to spend unless there is a sale. They’re being more selective with what they will buy and, in many cases, trading down to buy cheaper stuff.

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For travelers who want to avoid babies and kids, one airline will test an adults-only section

DALLAS — One airline is betting that passengers will pay extra to sit away from babies and young children. Corendon Airlines says that it will sell an adults-only zone — no one under 16 allowed — on flights between Amsterdam and Curacao starting in November. The airline announced last week that it will set aside about 100 seats for adults on its Airbus A350 jets, which have 432 seats in all. A wall or curtain will separate the section from the rest of the passengers in back. It will cost the price of a ticket plus a reservation fee of 45 euros ($49) or 100 euros ($109) for the no-kids zone.

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3M agrees to pay $6 billion to settle earplug lawsuits from US service members

NEW YORK — Chemical and consumer product manufacturer 3M has agreed to pay $6 billion to settle lawsuits from U.S. service members who say they experienced hearing loss or other serious injuries after using faulty earplugs made by the company. Over recent years, hundreds of thousands of veterans and current service members have sued 3M and Aearo Technologies, a company that 3M acquired in 2008, over their Combat Arms Earplugs. The service members alleged that a defective design allowed the earplugs to loosen slightly, leading to hearing damage. That’s according to one of the law firms representing plaintiffs. 3M maintains that the agreement was not an admission of liability — and said the earplugs are safe when used properly.

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The S&P 500 rose 64.32 points, or 1.5%, to 4,497.63. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 292.69 points, or 0.8%, to 34,852.67. The Nasdaq composite advanced 238.63 points, or 1.7%, to 13,943.76. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies climbed 26.53 points, or 1.4%, to 1,895.54.